Friday 5: Kyle Busch making an impact at RCR off the track

While Kyle Busch gave Richard Childress Racing its first Cup victory of the season last month, his greatest contribution could be how he pushes the organization and those teams aligned with RCR.

Busch’s level of preparedness, his observations and questions in meetings already have made an impact in the beginning of his tenure. 

“He’s bringing things to the table for us that we haven’t had,” Andy Petree, RCR vice president of competition, told NBC Sports.

Austin Dillon cited Busch’s feedback as among the areas his new teammate would make at impact when the deal with Busch was announced last September.

“You’re probably never going to have to doubt any kind of feedback from him,” Dillon said then. “If he says the cars are struggling here, we go to work on that.”

Busch said he and the team discussed in January how they prepare for each event and how to merge those ideas in their meetings.

“I brought up a lot of different topics,” Busch said. “I still don’t have all of what I want accomplished yet. Most of that is data-driven and stuff you get after practice or after qualifying, so still pushing on much of that.”

Busch described the team meetings as having “gone well” this season.

“I feel like they’ve been a little bit productive,” he said. “Hopefully those that are with us in those meetings feel the same way, so it’s been a good sense. I know Austin and I have really liked the way that it is and how we got it set up, so it’s been useful for us.”

Petree, who was Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief for Earnhardt’s final two Cup championships, says that Busch provides more detail with the car than Earnhardt did.

“Earnhardt was an incredible driver, but he didn’t have this knack that Kyle has for breaking down so many details in the